King Hunt!

 

Every chess player enjoys a king-hunt, esp. when he is the one who is doing the hunting.

 
For those who are unfamiliar with this term, here is a short definition : A king hunt occurs when a king is driven from a defended position to another part of the board where he may be mated.

 
Here are some of my favorites. The second one is well-known, while the others are not (but maybe should be).

 

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Greco-N.N.
Italy, 1620
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+ (The Lolli Gambit. It is rarely seen because Black can defend this aggressive and early attack. Still, it might make a good choice in a blitz game or two!) 5…Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke6 7.Qxg4+ Kxe5 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4 Bg7 10.Bxf4+ Ke7 11.Bg5+ Bf6 12.e5 Bxg5 13.Qxg5+ Ke8 14.Qh5+ Ke7 15.O-O Qe8 16.Qg5+ Ke6

17.Rf6+ Nxf6 18.Qxf6+ Kd5 19.Nc3+ Kxd4 20.Qf4+ Kc5 21.b4+ Kc6 22.Qc4+ Kb6 23.Na4mate 1-0

 

Edward Lasker-George Alan Thomas
Casual Game
London, Oct. 29 1912
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.e4 fxe4 7.Nxe4 b6!? (This move seems slow. Probably best is the immediate 7…O-O. Monti-Idili, corres., Italy, 1972 continued with 8.Ne5 Nc6 9.Bd3 Nxe5 10.dxe5 Bxe5 11.Qh5 Rf5 12.Qh3 Bxb2 13.Rb1 Bd4 14.g4 Rf8 15.Nd6 cxd6 16.Bxh7+ Kf7 17.Rb3 Qg5 18.f4 Qh6 19.Qd3 b6 20.g5 Qh4+ 21.Ke2 Ke7 22.Qxd4 Qxh7 23.Rd3 d5 24.h4 Ba6 25.g6 Bxd3+ 26.cxd3 Qxg6 27.Rg1 Qf6 0-1. Back to the game.) 8.Ne5 O-O 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.Qh5 Qe7? [The text move is an error. Best is 10…Bxe5 11.Nd2 g6 12.Qxe5 Nc6 13.Qg3 Nb4 14.Bxg6 hxg6= (Stockfish).]

11.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 (11…Kg8? 13.Ng6# wins on the spot!.) 12.Nxf6+ Kh6 13.Neg4+ Kg5 14.h4+ Kf4 15.g3+ Kf3 16.Be2+ Kg2 17.Rh2+ Kg1 18.Kd2mate 1-0 (12.O-O-O# is also possible.)

 

Blackburne-N.N.
10 Board Blindfold Simul
Kidderminster, England, May 15 1863
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne5 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Rd1 Qa5 12.f4 Qc5 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.O-O h6 15.Be8 Be6

16.Rxf6! gxf6 17.Rd7+ Bxd7 18.Qf7+ Kd6 19.Qxd7+ Kc5 20.Be3+ Kb4 21.Qxb7+ Ka5 22.b4+ Bxb4 23.Bb6+ axb6 24.Qxa8mate 1-0

 

Huber-Lemke
Essen, 1936
1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 (A side variation of Alekhine’s Defence.) 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 c5 6.d3 Nc6 7.Nf3 e5? (The e5-pawn will become a target. More common are 7…e6 and 7..Bf5.) 8.O-O Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Nxe5!! Bxd1 (Better is 10…Nxe5, but White is winning after 11.Qxh5.) 11.Bxf7+ Ke7 12.Bg5+ Kd6 13.Ne4+! Kxe5 14.f4+ Kd4 (14…Kf5 15.Ng3#) 15.Raxd1 Ke3 16.Rf3+ Ke2 17.Rd2+ Ke1 18.Rf1mate 1-0

 

Moser-Underwood
corres.
Canada, 1962
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 e6 4.axb4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.d4 d6 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.Bd3 Nf6 9.O-O O-O 10.e5! dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nbd7 12.f4 b5 13.c4 Bb7 14.Nc3 a6 15.Bb2 Qd6 16.Rf2 Rfe8 17.g4 Nf8 18.g5 N6d7 19.Ne4 Qc7 20.Qh5 Ng6

21.Nxf7! Nxf4 (21…Kxf7 22.Qxh7 Rh8 23.Nd6+! Bxd6 24.Bxg7+ Ke7 25.Qxg7+ followed by Qxh8+.) 22.Qxh7+! (White now announces mate in 12 moves.) 22…Kf8 (22…Kxf7 23.g6+ Kf8 24.Qh8#) 23.Qh8+ Kxf7 24.g6+! Kxg6 25.Rg2+!! Nxg2 (25…Kf5 26.Nd6+) 26.Nd6+ Kg5 (26…Kf6 27.Rf1+) 27.Qxg7+ Kh4 28.Qh6+ Kg4 29.Be2+ Bf3 30.Bxf3+ Kxf3 31.Rf1+ Ke2 (31…Kg4 32.h3+ Kg3 33.Ne4#) 32.Rf2+ Kd1 (32…Kd3 33.Qd2#) 33.Qc1mate 0-1

Josef Matschego-Ernst Falkbeer
Vienna, 1853
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Nc3? d6 7.Nc4 Be7

[7…Nh5 is at least an alternate move and it might be even stronger. Do. Florea (1863)-Petra Papp (2276), Romania Women’s Team Ch., Mamaia, Sept. 8 2013 went 7…Nh5 8.Be2 Ng3 9.Rh2 h5 10.Nxf4 Be7 11.d4 Bxh4 12.Be3 Nxe2+ 13.Kxe2 g3 14.Rxh4 Qxh4 15.Qf1 c6 16.Kd2 Bg4 0-1.]

8.d4 Nh5 9.Be2 Bxh4+ 10.Kd2 Qg5 11.Kd3 (Avoiding a calamitous loss of material after 12…f3+. But 11.Nd5 is better.) 11…Nc6 (Black threatens 12…Nb4+ 13.Kd2 f3+ 14.Ne3 Bf2!) 12.a3 Bf2 13.Nd5 Bxd4 14.Nxc7+ Kd8 15.Nd5 f5 16.Nxd6 fxe4+ 17.Kc4

17…Qxd5+!! 18.Kxd5 Nf6+ 19.Kc4 Be6+ 20.Kb5 a6+ 21.Ka4 b5+ 22.Nxb5 (22.Bxb5 axb5+ 23.Kxb5 Ra5+ 24.Kxc6 Bd5#.) 22…axb5+ 23.Kxb5 Ra5+ 24.Kxc6 Bd5+ 25.Kd6 Ne8mate 0-1